JB Holmes won the Genesis Open in mid-February. Since then ? A dozen departures. Seven missed cuts. A withdrawal. Failed to exit group play at World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Some arrivals outside the top-60. Aside from his previous departure, a T-21 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic three weeks ago, it wasn't a pretty sight.

The Open: JB Holmes leads after difficult season

JB Holmes - © The Open

"I played very well in this tournament, I won a victory", said JB Holmes of his win at Riviera, the fifth PGA tournament in his career. "If you take it away from me, it's probably one of the worst years of my career." "

He therefore naturally has the lead in the first round of The Open Championship, scoring 66 (-5) at the Royal Portrush on Thursday to beat Irishman Shane Lowry by one stroke. This is JB Holmes' first major round victory since the 2008 PGA Championship, which he led 36 holes in Oakland Hills.

The vagaries of golf. A player can find something, a spark after months of struggle, and make it a unique opportunity.

"I really had a lot of trouble with my swing after my victory"said JB Holmes, who started off with a bogey, bounced back with a birdie, and went without a bogey for the rest of his turn. “In Detroit I had worked on it and it worked today and I started hitting better. "

“I have been training for the past two weeks. I played really well. It was great to come here. Like I said, my results didn't show it. But I felt very confident when I arrived. I hit very well ". That is well said.

“I wasn't really surprised, I played well. "

He may have been one of the few who was not surprised at the Royal Portrush. In 32 major starts (not counting two withdrawals), he only finished in the top 10 twice. Both arrived in 2016 - a T-4 at the Masters, followed later that summer by his best major result, a third-place solo at The Open.

It was the weekend that Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson finally turned the tournament into a two-man, so it's doubtful anyone will remember JB Holmes playing that week at the Royal Troon.

But it was a confidence boost, showing that JB Holmes could do well on the links.

“It was a great week for me,” he said. “And it teaches me that I can go out and play. There were two guys who got really hot that week. Other than that, I had pretty much beaten the ground. It's a boost, that's for sure. "

It took him three years later, but through 18 holes he took over.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised it's at the Royal Portrush. While many players on the court first see the Dunluce Course, JB Holmes actually played a trick here during a college trip with his University of Kentucky teammates. They also played on another famous course in Northern Ireland, the Royal County Down.

Alas, there wasn't much knowledge from that trip to Portrush that he was able to use on Thursday.

"I don't remember much"said JB Holmes. “I had two caddies here. … Back then, most of the caddies we had weren't used to having someone hit 315 or 320, so I had a few bad lines. I believe when I was playing here I hit five or six shots exactly where they asked me to and lost the ball. "

“The score was not very good. "

It changed on Thursday. This time the score was pretty good.

To learn more about The Open: https://www.theopen.com/

To read our article announcing the event:

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